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Inspiration includes:
Artists
acCessibilIty
Is the venue wheelchair accessible?
Yes, the venue is wheelchair accessible including ramps into the building, elevators and wheelchair accessible washrooms.
Will the event be ASL Interpreted?
All live events will offer ASL interpretation (upon request). Please contact us to request ASL Interpretation.
Will the event be described for Blind and low vision audiences?
This performance does not include audio description.
XXX
xxx
Inspiration includes:
Artists
acCessibilIty
Is the venue wheelchair accessible?
Yes, the venue is wheelchair accessible including ramps into the building, elevators and wheelchair accessible washrooms.
Will the event be ASL Interpreted?
All live events will offer ASL interpretation (upon request). Please contact us to request ASL Interpretation.
Will the event be described for Blind and low vision audiences?
This performance does not include audio description.
In 2024 Dancemakers is 50 years old.
This is a time of crucial and critical looking back for Dancemakers. As a way to commemorate this anniversary, we worked with Artist Researchers to read “against the grain” of our archive, which is housed at Dance Collection Danse (DCD) located at 2 Carlton St Unit 1303 in Tkaranto.
Each artist researcher was given a one-week (paid) Writing Residency at Dance Collection Danse (or remotely using DCD’s digital archives) with the intention to produce content that will permanently live on our website.
Artists
Carol Anderson
Carol Anderson was a founding member of Dancemakers in 1974 and she performed with the company for 15 years.
Four Scythe
Four is an Educator, SFX Artist, Product Designer, currently an Expressive Arts Therapist in training.
Katie Adams Gossage
Katie Adams Gossage is a dance artist originally from Montreal, now collaborating, creating, performing, and leading in Toronto.
Lucy Rupert
Lucy is a dancer, choreographer, art-science researcher, and writer.
Roxy Menzies
Roxy Menzies seamlessly weaves the disciplines of dance, writing, and healing arts.
Raymundo Moreno
Raymundo Moreno is a Mexican, passionate dancer, and choreographer dedicated to exploring the transformative power of the Dance and Theatre.
Tamara Jones
Tamara Jones’ practice uses experimental video and site-specific performance to explore bureaucratic architecture, urban choreography, and the politics of public space.
Mairéad Filgate
Mairéad Filgate (Montreal/Toronto) is a Dora Mavor Moore Award winning performer (Ensemble – Public Recordings) and choreographer (with Throwdown Collective), and a K.M. Hunter and Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize nominee.
acCessibilIty
Is the venue wheelchair accessible?
Yes, the venue is wheelchair accessible including ramps into the building, elevators and wheelchair accessible washrooms.
Will the event be ASL Interpreted?
All live events will offer ASL interpretation (upon request). Please contact us to request ASL Interpretation.
Will the event be described for Blind and low vision audiences?
This performance does not include audio description.
“What dance gives, can also be received”
Showtime at Shops was a pop-up performance organized at an outdoor shopping space that is frequented by many people including youth.
Melissa Hart wanted to create a performance experience for the average passersby to remind audiences that dance is essential to human existence and that “what dance gives can also be received.”
By choosing Shops at Don Mills as the location of Showtime at Shops, not only does Melissa want to activate a frequently visited space in their neighbourhood, but also present an opportunity for diverse audiences of all ages outside of the downtown core to experience the incredible vibrant energy of artists who are making waves in the dance community!
As part of Showtime at Shops Melissa has commissioned a new work by Raoul Wilke and will also feature emerging dancers from School of Groove.
For this commission, Raoul has created A product of my environment which gives insight into the underground clubs of Chicago and New York in the late 1970s and early 1980s where House Dance originated. This piece explores those communal spaces where house music and the people were as one and features Miha Matevzic and Caroline Fraser.
Curated by: Melissa Hart
Featuring newly commissioned work by choreographer: Raoul Wilke
Performed by: Raoul Wilke, Miha Matevzic and Caroline Fraser
Also featuring opening act performances by: School of Groove
Choreographed by: Kelly Gammie & Queenie Vicente
Sound Technician: Kit Norman
Inspiration for this event came from local youth
Artists
acCessibilIty
Is the venue wheelchair accessible?
Yes, the venue is wheelchair accessible including ramps into the building, elevators and wheelchair accessible washrooms.
Will the event be ASL Interpreted?
All live events will offer ASL interpretation (upon request). Please contact us to request ASL Interpretation.
Will the event be described for Blind and low vision audiences?
This performance does not include audio description.
An annual symposium exploring the craft, practice and plurality of dance curation.
Thursday July 17 2025:
11:00 – Arrival
11:30-1:00 – Curation Under the Surface (with Celia Green & Rumi Jeraj)
1:00-1:30 – Break
1:30-3:00 – Curating in Unconventional Spaces (with Shani K. Parsons & Abel Hagos)
3:00-3:30 – Break
3:30-5:00 – Research as Curatorial Method (with Christina de la Cruz & Sanjukta Banarjee)
5:30-7:00 – Call for Curators Q&A and Info Sessions
Friday July 18 2025
11:00 – Arrival
11:30-1:00 – A Decade Since ACAQ (with Dena Devida)
1:00-1:30 – Break
1:30-3:00 – Collaborative Dance Curation (with Nomadic Curatorial Collective & Parks N Wreck)
3:00-3:30 – Break
3:30-5:00 – Access in Dance Curation (with Arts Assembly & Shay Erlich)
5:30-7:00 – Cinq a Sept hosted by members of the CDA-DanceWorks IBPOC Artist-Curators Inaugural Cohort
Artists
Celia Green
Celia Green’s practice spans choreography, writing, creation, and performance. Within their work they often consider gender, the fragility of identity, and freedom as guiding forces.
Rumi Jeraj
Rumi Jeraj is an Ismailli muslim hailing from Sherwood Park Alberta.
Shani K. Parsons
Shani Khoo Parsons (she/her) is an independent curator, designer, mother, and founding director of Critical Distance Centre for Curators.
Abel Hagos
As a Street Dance artist and community advocate, my work is rooted in the belief that dance is a powerful tool for expression, storytelling, and cultural preservation.
Christina de la Cruz
Christina de la Cruz is a Hip Hop dancer, artistic producer, curator of dance and performance and waitress.
Sanjukta Banerjee
Dr. Sanjukta Banerjee is an acclaimed Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam and Kathakali dance artist.
Dena Devida
Contemporary dance curator, anthropologist, educator, artist; also co-founder and managing editor of the TURBA Journal.
Cara Spooner
Cara Spooner is a choreographer, caregiver and caretaker as well as one of the Co-Artistic Producers at Dancemakers.
Erin McCurdy
Erin Joelle McCurdy is a writer, maker, and curator based in Toronto.
Emily Law
Emily Law is an artist, choreographer, producer, lifelong student, and mother.
Sarah Tumaliuan
Associate Curator, Public Programs and Learning at Museum of Toronto, co-producer of Parks N’Wreck and Dance artist with Mix Mix Dance and Holla Jazz.
Arts Assembly
Arts Assembly is a not-for-profit, community-centric arts organization that emphasizes artistic collaboration.
Shay Erlich
Shay Erlich (they/them) is a disability justice world builder living in Tkaronto.
Ibpoc Curators
The Canadian Dance Assembly, in partnership with DanceWorks, hosted a project that invited 10 Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and Person of Colour Artist-Curators in dance to gather in Toronto between May 12-17th, 2025.
acCessibilIty
Is the venue wheelchair accessible?
Yes, the venue is wheelchair accessible including ramps into the building, elevators and wheelchair accessible washrooms.
Will the event be ASL Interpreted?
All live events will offer ASL interpretation (upon request). Please contact us to request ASL Interpretation.
Will the event be described for Blind and low vision audiences?
Audio description will be available upon request.
We are working towards making a space of dialog for artists and audiences, for both artists and audiences, in how to hold different lenses of contemporary expansion and artistic references.
The Engaging in Repertoire Residency is a curatorial project developed by Nithya Garg and Tanveer Alam through the Dancemakers Guest Curator Program.
This initiative brought together artists Sanjukta Banerjee, a Mohiniyattam dance artist, and Marie Lambin-Gagnon, a Western contemporary dance and visual artist, with her dancers Megumi Kokuba and Jessica Germano.
Their collaboration focused on the concept of slowness in both form and choreography, exploring how their practices could intersect and inspire each other.
The residency was further enriched by the insights of dramaturges Brandy Leary and Harikishan S. Nair, who provided ongoing support for the artists’ research and creative process.
Choreographers: Sanjukta Banarjee & Marie Lambin Gagnon
Dancers: Megumi Kokuba & Jessica Germano
Outside Eyes: Bandy Leary & Harikishan S Nair
Artists
Tanveer Alam
Toronto-based Tanveer Alam started his Kathak training with Sudeshna Maulik and continued further nuanced studies with guru Sandhya Desai.
Nithya Garg
Nithya Garg is an artist, curator, and producer who has trained in the south asian classical dance form of Bharatanatyam.
Brandy Leary
Brandy Leary creates contemporary performances through the body.
Harikishan S. Nair
Harikishan S. Nair is the Founder and Artistic Director of Regatta Kala Kendra.
Sanjukta Banerjee
Dr. Sanjukta Banerjee is an acclaimed Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam and Kathakali dance artist.
Marie Lambin-Gagnon
Marie Lambin-Gagnon is a choreographer, dancer and visual artist.
Earlier this year, Dancemakers Guest Curator Rumi Jeraj put out a call for Tap Dance artists looking to dream up the shoe of the future. Four tap artists were matched with artisans and experts from every discipline: from music technology, to metal workers, and of course shoemakers.
The result has been an extraordinary journey into the worlds of tap, craft and performance and how many hands are involved in the process of imagining the future through a shoe.
Experience the materials and sounds that shape the dreams of Toronto’s tap dancers, and watch the process of innovating an instrument unfold before your eyes.
RSVP for the evening reception on June 26 with more gallery activations to be announced shortly!
Artists
Rumi Jeraj
Rumi Jeraj is an Ismailli muslim hailing from Sherwood Park Alberta.
Travis Knights
Travis Knights. Tap Dancer. Performer. Choreographer. Speaker. Believer.
Elise McGrenera
Elise McGrenera is a tap dancer from Vancouver, Canada currently living in Toronto, Ontario.
Jonah Hamilton
Jonah Hamilton is a professional dancer, choreographer, teacher, and healthcare worker based in the GTA.
Brianna Maltais
Brianna is a tap dance-based artist whose work explores textural soundscapes, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and fosters opportunities for youth in her hometown of Barrie.
acCessibilIty
Is the venue wheelchair accessible?
Yes, the venue is wheelchair accessible including ramps into the building, elevators and wheelchair accessible washrooms.
Will the event be ASL Interpreted?
All live events will offer ASL interpretation (upon request). Please contact us to request ASL Interpretation.
Will the event be described for Blind and low vision audiences?
This performance does not include audio description.
We want to know what dance might look like in 2074. What will happen to dance, choreography over the next two generations?
This is a speculative choreography project in which nine artists have been tasked with creating a dance for 50 years into the future. We want to know, now, what dance might look like in 2074. What will happen to dance, choreography and stops in between over the next two generations.
This is a thought experiment and a real exercise that considers what the role, purpose, form and potential of dance (as well as performance, choreography, movement, or adjacent and related forms such as performance art) might be at this critical convergence of the climate crisis, violent international conflicts and political upheaval.
Participating artists will present a range of responses—a short performance, written score, film, audio-recording, descriptive essay or something yet imagined.
supportTHEsupport by Margaret Dragu
untitled by Johnny Forever Nawracaj
waiting for the future to remember the past by Nova Bhattacharya
Time to Wake Up by Freya Björg Olafson
Future Tap Dance by Travis Knights
Between a River and Lightning by Lee Su-Feh
Future Dances by Laura Taler
live performance by Ronnie Clarke (with Harry Clarke)
live performance by Ravyn Wngz
essay by abisola oni
Artists
Laura Taler
Romanian-born Canadian artist Laura Taler began her career as a contemporary dance choreographer before turning her attention to filmmaking and visual art.
Margaret Dragu
Margaret Dragu works in video, installation, web & analogue book publication, and performance art. Her performances span relational, durational, interventionist and community-based practices.
Ravyn Wngz
Ravyn Wngz “The Black Widow of Burlesque” is an Afro-Indigenous, 2Spirit, Queer and Transcendent multidisciplinary art maker, curator and empowerment storyteller.
Travis Knights
Travis Knights. Tap Dancer. Performer. Choreographer. Speaker. Believer.
Lee Su-Feh
Lee Su-Feh (she/they) is a dancer, choreographer, performance-maker and teacher of voice and movement.
Johnny Forever Nawracaj
Johnny Forever Nawracaj is a non-binary Polish-born performance and media artist currently based in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal.
Ronnie Clarke
Ronnie Clarke is a movement and sound artist living and working in Toronto, Ontario.
Nova Bhattacharya
Nova Bhattacharya is an award-winning artist, cultural innovator, and unapologetic trailblazer based in Tkaronto.
Freya Björg Olafson
Freya Björg Olafson is an intermedia artist who works with video, audio, animation, motion capture, XR, painting, and performance.
abisola oni
abisola oni is a performance artist, writer, and curator based in Tkaronto.
acCessibilIty
Is the venue wheelchair accessible?
Yes, the venue is wheelchair accessible including ramps into the building, elevators and wheelchair accessible washrooms.
Will the event be ASL Interpreted?
All live events will offer ASL interpretation (upon request). Please contact us to request ASL Interpretation.
Will the event be described for Blind and low vision audiences?
This performance does not include audio description.